What is a Libertarian?

In Brief

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The Libertarian Party is the Party of Principle.

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We believe that your life is yours, that your property is yours, that you have the God-given, inalienable right to live your life your way, without interference, provided you respect the rights and property of others.

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Libertarians are socially liberal and fiscally conservative.

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We are the third largest party in Pennsylvania and the nation, outnumbering all the other third parties combined.

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Vote Libertarian, because if you keep on voting the way you’ve been voting, you’ll keep on getting just what you’ve been getting.

History

Founded in 1971, the Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in Pennsylvania and the nation, with 145 elected and appointed officials currently serving in office nationwide, and 32 here in Pennsylvania.

Like the Founding Fathers, Libertarians believe that you have a God-given, inalienable right to conduct your life as you see fit, without interference, so long as you respect the rights and property of others. As a result, Libertarians favor a smaller, more responsible government. Libertarians agree with the traditional Republican values of economic freedom and low taxes, and with the Democratic values of personal freedom and tolerance. For more information about the Libertarian Party, the public is invited to contact the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania at (800) R-Rights or www.LpPa.Org, or the National Libertarian Party at (800) Elect-Us or www.Lp.Org.

In Depth

We Libertarians are different from the two old parties and other third parties because we are the party of principle.

Every law we support, every law we oppose, can all be traced back to one central idea: the idea that your life is yours, that your property is yours, that you have the God-given, inalienable right to live your life your way, without interference, provided you respect the rights and property of others. That’s it. That’s what it means to be a Libertarian. Your life your way. It’s the Golden Rule on a political level. We’re the ultimate party of tolerance and respect for the individual.

And the public has reacted very strongly to that message. Since our founding in 1971, we have grown to become the third largest party in Pennsylvania and the nation, hands down. With 46,233 registered Libertarians in the state, we outnumber all the other third parties combined. At last count, we had almost 150 elected and appointed officials currently serving in office nationwide with 40 here in Pennsylvania; again, more than all the other third parties put together. And we’re still growing.

People often ask where Libertarians fall on the Right vs. Left political spectrum. The short answer is that we don’t. There’s a whole other dimension to the political spectrum that cannot be represented simply by a line.

The longer answer is that the political Left and Right agree with Libertarians in different ways.Like Libertarians–and unlike the political Right–people on the Left are socially liberal and agree with us when it comes to personal freedom issues, such as gay rights, decriminalizing drugs, and ending corporate welfare, among many other personal issues.

Like Libertarians–and unlike the political Left–people on the Right are fiscally conservative and agree with us when it comes to economic freedom issues, such as lowering taxes, ending over-regulation, and defending the free market, among many other economic issues.

In other words, in general, the political Left supports personal liberty, but not economic liberty. The political Right supports economic liberty, but not personal liberty. But we Libertarians support liberty all the time. We’re socially liberal and fiscally conservative, which is the best of both worlds.

Please vote Libertarian, because if you keep on voting the way you’ve been voting, you’ll keep on getting just what you’ve been getting. And haven’t we all had enough?